Parking pawl assemblies are used in automotive vehicles to operatively engage the vehicle's park gear, thereby maintaining the vehicle in a "parked" position or state. Parking pawl assemblies typically include a rotatable member or a "parking pawl," which is selectively engaged by the park rod of the vehicle when the transmission of the vehicle is shifted into the "park" position. When the park rod engages the parking pawl, the parking pawl pivots or rotates into a position where it is disposed between a pair of teeth on the park gear, thereby substantially preventing the park gear and the output shaft from further rotating.
The park rod typically includes a spring which is compressed during certain "shifts" into park. Particularly, when the park rod engages the parking pawl and causes it to pivot into the park gear, the parking pawl is sometimes pivoted into and engages a "tooth" of the park gear. During these types of shifts, the pivotal movement of the parking pawl is temporarily limited or stopped by the gear tooth, and is effective to prevent further movement of the park rod until the park gear is rotated, thereby causing the spring within the park rod to be compressed. When the park gear rotates, the parking pawl slides along the gear tooth with which it is engaged until it "drops into" or is forced into a space between the teeth of the park gear.
During other shifts into the park position, the parking pawl is engaged by the park rod and is rotated or pivoted directly into a space between gear teeth. During these types of shifts, the parking pawl does not "block" or prevent the movement of the park rod and the spring within the park rod is not compressed.
The resulting inconsistency in the compression of the park rod causes the force required to shift the vehicle into park to vary from shift to shift. Hence, in these prior systems a driver or an operator of the shifter undesirably "feels" or experiences different forces when shifting the vehicle into park (e.g., the operator is required to exert different amounts or levels of force at the shifter to shift the vehicle into park during different shifts).
Additionally, the speed at which the pawl "drops into" or engages space between gear teeth varies from shift to shift in these prior systems. For example and without limitation, when the parking pawl first engages a tooth of the park gear and subsequently "drops into" or is forced into a space between gear teeth, the speed at which the parking pawl engages the gear teeth depends, at least in part, upon the speed at which the park gear rotates. This speed varies based upon the incline of the vehicle, the speed of the vehicle, and the residual torque remaining within the output shaft of the vehicle when the vehicle is shifted into park. These variables cause the parking pawl to "drop into" position or to engage the teeth of the park gear undesirably fast during certain shifts, thereby producing unaesthetic "clicking" or "clicking" sounds.
There is therefore a need for a new and improved parking pawl assembly for use in a vehicle which overcomes many, if not all, of the previously delineated drawbacks of such prior parking pawl assemblies.